


the similarities (the differences)

by bene_elim



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: !!!, Blizzards, Cuddles, F/M, Huddling For Warmth, Repressed Emotions, because its revali, revali was hard to write this time :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27913789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bene_elim/pseuds/bene_elim
Summary: Revali and Zelda, separated from the rest of their party, must cuddle for warmth if they wish to survive the blizzard on the way back to Rito Village.-‘Here’ was a tiny little crevice between the rock walls of a two joining mountains. Revali looked up at them and wondered at their similarities, their differences, the way that they seemed to be embracing. He wondered what embraces felt like. He looked at Zelda.
Relationships: Revali/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35
Collections: LoZ: Botw/AoC Rareship Bingo





	the similarities (the differences)

**Author's Note:**

> written while sprinting on discord, with only a cursory look through afterwards for mistakes; no beta or anything like that. all in all, although i was a little stuck, im mostly pleased how it turned out! im hoping that both zelda and revali are in character and believable... thanks to sun for the prompt! written for the rareship bingo.

The wind was quiet as it danced, flowing with grace this way and that; Revali envied it. Often did he wish that he was as swift, as powerful as the wind. Perhaps that’s why he created his unique updraft.

“We need to stop for the night,” he said to Zelda, who was walking alongside him. She was wrapped in her warmest furs, covered up to the nose. She looked… endearing; flushed cheeks and red tipped ears. He looked away before he thought on it anymore: he wasn’t interested. He wasn’t.

“Yes, of course. I trust your judgement.” Zelda said.

It was just the two of them for, in an earlier battle, he and Zelda had been separated from the rest of their party. Now they were trying to make their way back to the rendezvous spot in Rito Village, but the blizzard was making progress slow. It wouldn’t be a problem for Revali, of course: a flap of his wings, a call upon his updraft, and he could be across half of Tabantha with a single wing-flap. But he couldn’t abandon Zelda. She was the Princess, after all, and, well… he might’ve had a soft spot for her. Maybe.

He wasn’t sure when it happened. One moment he had been disdainfully telling her to leave him be, the next he ached to be in her company for even a moment.

(So much for casting wishes on the shooting stars that he watches through the beams of his hut in the Village; now that he had one fulfilled, what was he supposed to do?)

“Here will do,” Revali said after a little bit more of a trek through the snow. It was falling as fast and as thick as it had been at the start of the blizzard and it was settling, settling, settling. Gleaming and pure, untarnished, untouched, undisturbed: it was perfect to behold in only the way nature can be perfect. Revali was jealous of it, as he was jealous of the wind.

‘Here’ was a tiny little crevice between the rock walls of a two joining mountains. Revali looked up at them and wondered at their similarities, their differences, the way that they seemed to be embracing. He wondered what embraces felt like. He looked at Zelda.

She was settling, soft as the snow, against the wall of one of the mountains and, with her gloved hand, she patted the snow down in front of her to make the surface harder and steadier. Then she turned to Revali.

“You don’t happen to be hiding some firewood anywhere, do you?” She asked.

“No, and even if I was, with what do you expect to kindle it?” He snarked.

She seemed unperturbed by his tone, though he himself shrunk in on himself slightly. He always spoke without thinking.

“Alright, so we don’t have a fire,” she said, continuing on as though Revali hadn’t spoken at all. He wanted to hate her for it. “We’ll… have to keep warm by exchanging body heat,” she said, and Revali wanted to hate her for it.

The smallest of wishes, the smallest of hopes, the mere whisp of a wondering thought – what does an embrace feel like – it was like the universe was at his beck and call tonight.

He managed to choke out a token protest of, “Rito don’t snuggle,” before he felt it: her snowy suggestion of touch, her settling, snowy suggestion of touch. It was on his arm, just below his shoulder, and it left him as breathless as though he had been knocked out of the air mid-flight. He wanted to hate her for it.

“Revali?” She had the gall to ask, “are you alright?” – while Revali was short of breath and trying desperately to hide it. Oh, oh, was all he could think. Oh.

He managed to wrangle out a nod eventually, though he wasn’t sure of how successful he had been, and then startled once more as Zelda climbed up into his lap and plastered her body against his. Her arms went to wrap around his shoulders and her face was buried in his neck and he could feel each and every breath she took, in and out and in, and oh, if this was what an embrace was, then oh, why hadn’t he reached out before?

He tugged her closer. There was no space between them for how close they were; no space for even the smallest of snowflakes to fall. She was gripping him tightly now, almost to the point of pain, and yet it still felt like a snowy settling touch, like she was just hardly reaching out. He closed his eyes. He imagined the mountains behind them. He wondered at the similarities, he wondered at the differences, he wondered at how they looked like they were embracing. Then he opened his eyes and looked down at the girl in his lap, and wondered again: this is an embrace?

He tentatively wrapped his own wings around her waist, but other than that he dared not move.

What a trick of the mind this was, if the cold had finally got to him! Oh, what a cruel trick, how terribly cruel – he closed his eyes once more, hoping that, when he reopened them, reality would be back to normal, but alas. Zelda was still in his arms, and he was still forced to accept that his emotions for her were bubbling away within him.

Softness. He’d always had a soft spot for Zelda, the princess whose father was never pleased with her efforts, the princess whose powers were yet elusive, the princess who viewed herself as a failure. He didn’t need to read her diary to know: he saw himself in her. Perhaps – perhaps that’s why he felt as he did, much as he tried to ignore it.

So he held her, and hugged her back, and wondered at the similarities and the differences and the embrace. And he wondered and wondered, not warm but content, until he felt Zelda fall asleep against him and he felt safe enough to also sleep.

It would only be for a moment. But perhaps they had earned it.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! your comments encourage me to write more <3


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